Flour sifter



A. GSCHWINDT FLOUR SIFTER Filed May 29, 1925 Patented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFIE.

ADAM GSICHWINDT, or ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, AssIGnoR 'ro ROSELAND CAN & WIRE GOODS 00., or nocnronn, LINoIs, AcoRronA'rIoN or ILLIENIs.

FLOUR SIFTER.

Application filed May 29, 1925. Serial No. 38,668.

This invention relates to sifters for flour and other materials, and has more particular reference to domestic floursifters.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved sifter which will accomplish the following, namely, it will save time and labor in requiring only one handling of flour-it will sift more thoroughly,

crushing even the smallest lumps that are created by moisture and it will give a bet ter mixture of flour and baking. powder or of other materials which are combined as a preparatory step in cooking.

Another object is to provide a sifter of the character described so constructed that it will be sturdy and thoroughly serviceable for the purposes intended.

A further object is to provide a high grade sifter of the character described which may be manufactured economically.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciated by'those skilled in this art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in'connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figures land 2, are vertical sectional views at right angles to each other through a flour sift'er embodying my invention;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the sifter; V

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 4l 4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5, is a vertical section through a modified form of the sifter.

The container for the flour or other material, designated generally by 6, may be of any suitable or preferred construction and as shown comprises a cylindrical sheet metal body open at the top and bottom and equipped at one side witha suitable handle 7. In this instance, the top edge is reenforced by a wire 8 and the outwardly turned edge of the container which holds the wire in position.

In the bottom of the container, shown in Fig. 1, is located a sieve orls creen 9, in this case held in position by clamping its marginal edge between the inwardly and upwardlyturned edge '11 and. the'contiguous inner wallof thecontainer. I prefer to'u's'e a flat screen because of certain advantages and economies well known'; but my invention should not be confined to this type of sieve for'the reason that other shapes might be employed.r i i The agitator is preferably made of a single piece of wire the opposite ends of which are mounted for rotation within the container and the intermediate portion of which is shaped, to provide agitator arms of an improved nature. As shown in Fig. 2 one end 12 of the wire is mounted 01' guided in a central bearing, in this instance, in the sieve itself. The wire extends upwardly above the sieve and has a first bend 13 from which the wire extends laterally providing an upper agitator arm 14. This arm terminates in a second bend 15 from which the wire extends diametrically across the sieve, thereby providing a lower agitator arm 16 traversing both sides of the entire width of the sieve and passing close to the endportion 12, as shown in Fig. 2. The opposite end of the lower arm is turned upwardly at 17, from which the wire extends inwardly providing' an upper agitator arm 18. The wire has a fourth bend 19 at the center of the container, from which the wire extends upwardly, provlding air upper end'por'tion 21 coaxial with the lower end portion 12. It will be manifest that the single piece of wire provides in a very'compact space two radial upper agitator arms and a d'iametrical lower agitator arm so that for everyrotation of the agitator the. contents at any 'oneside of the container are traversed twice by the upper and lower agitator arms, also that the loweragitator arm traverses the entire width of the sieve. As a result of this construction a very efiective and efficient action results both in the way of agitating and mixing the contents and in breaking up any lumps and feeding the contents through the sieve. Furthermore, 'byusing'a'flat sieve which may be stretched taut and a straight wire lower agitator arm the contact or proximity of the latter to the sieve is always uniform with the result that the sifting action is uniform over the entire area ofthe sieve. Y

I" prefer to rotate theagitator by a hand crank located at one side of the container through-the intermediary of a simple form of gearing of'such ratio as to step up the rotation of the agitator with respect to that of the crank, with a view to quickeningv orhastening the sifting. I prefer toemploy a crank in the form of a single pieceof wire, the crank portion 22 being equipped with a suitable handle or knob 23 and the shaft portion 24 extending diametrically through the container and being suit-ably mounted thereon for rotation and retained so as not to bedisplaced endwise, the preferred construction being descrlbed presently. On the wheels 25 and 27 in proper intermeshing relation, to provide bearing support for the upper end portion of the agitator and to reenforce the crank shaft and prevent lateral deflection thereof. This bracket also, inthe preferred embodiment, provides mounting for. at least one endof the crank shaft. As shown, one end portion 28 of this bracket is turned down to provide a bearing support for the hand crank and has a slipconnec- 2 tion or mounting on the container. This slip connection is preferably provided by pressing inwardly a portion 29 of the container wall and inserting the end portion 28 between this pressedin portion and the contiguous wall of the container, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 4. The bracket piece extends from the end portion 28 inwardly along the shaft portion 24 and is turned downwardly at. 3l, horizontally at 32 and upwardly at 33. The shaft portion 24 passes through and has a bearing in the bracket portions 31 and 33, while the upper endportion 21 of the agitator passes through and has a bearing in the'bracket portion 32. The bracket portion 3& intermediate the down turned portions 28 and 31 is bent to a channel shape in cross-section, as shown plainly in Fig. 4', for reenforcing the bracket. It'will be manifest that this bracket performs in a very simple and effective manner the functions above stated. WVhen the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 1 the end 30 of the crank shaft will. be upset or riveted over a washer 30 interposed between the end thereof and the container, thus locking the shaft in position and preventing endwise displacement thereof.

My invention further contemplates the provision of a plural sieve sifter embodying two or more sieves in super-imposed relation, as shown in Fig. '5. In this form of the in: vention the sieves may be suitably mounted in the container and as shown each sieve 35 is clamped at its margin in a suitable ring frame 36 which in turn is seated in a head 37 formed on the wall of the container. By reason ofthis construction thesieve frames are detachably mounted and have asnap fit in thering grooves. \Vhile this construction is preferred, nevertheless any suitable means might be employed to locate and hold the sieves in position.

In this form of the invention it will be noted that the agitators for plural sieves are formed of a single piece of wire, the agitator for a single'sieve being similar to that described above. In other words, the agitator for a lower sieve is connected by the central w re portion, 38 to the agitator of an upper sieve. .In order to POSltlOntllQ upper sieve 011 theagitator in thelocation shown it will tors, as shown in Fig.6. A coupling part of this kind is not however, essential since a single piece agitator might be used for any number of sieves.

In the useof my improvedsifter only one handling of flour is required this being due to the effective sifting action resulting from the novel features of construction herein disclosed. The sifting actionis not only thorough but it is quicker than with theusual type of sifter now on themarket. The construction of the sifter is particularly advantageous not only because of the improve ment in the function but also because it isv simple and durable and because it comprises such few parts so constructed that they. may

be produced and assembled at a compare;

tively low cost.

It is believed a clear understanding of the objects prefaced above and while I have illustrated. several embodiments it should be under stood that my invention is not to be com that-the foregoing conveys V fined to the particular construction, shown but that various changes might be made in details and in the number of sieves and agitators employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invent-ionas expressed in the appended claims, in which- I I claim:

L A sifter ofthecharacter'described comprising, in combination, a container having.

a sieve, an agitator for the sieve having an upper end equipped with a toothed wheel, a shaft passing diametrically through the container above the agitator and having a hand crank at one. end outside of the container and a toothed wheelinside of the container meshing with said toothed'wheel on the agitator,

and a bracket formed of a strip ofsheet liil) metal secured at one end to the container wall and bent to extend inwardly along the crank shaft and thence downwardly to provide bearing support for the upper end of the agitator and thence upwardly and having a bearing on the crank shaft.

2. A sifter as set forth in claim 1, in which the bracket is secured to the container wall by a slip connection provided by a downwardly turned end of the bracket being inserted between the container wall and an inwardly pressed portion thereof.

3. A sifter as set forth in claim 1, in which the bracket is secured to the container wall by a slip connection provided by a downwardly turned end of the bracket being inserted between the container wall and an inwardly pressed portion thereof, the crank shaft having a bearing in said clownwardly turned end and in the downwardly turned portion intermediate its ends.

4. A sifter as set forth in claim 1, in which the bracket is secured to the container wall by a slip connection provided by a downwardly turned end of the bracket being inserted between the container wall and an inwardly pressed portion thereof, the crank shaft having a bearing in said downwardly turned end and in the downwardly turned portion intermediate its ends, the bracket being channel-shaped in cross-section between its container-fastened end and the downturned intermediate portion, with the crank shaft disposed in the hollow of and beneath said channel section.

5. In a flour sifter comprising a container having one or more sieves mounted therein, and an agitator having parts sweeping the sieves and having the upper end equipped with a toothed wheel, a shaft for'operating the agitator passing diametrically through the container for support in the opposite side walls thereof and having a hand crank at one end outside the container, and a toothed wheel inside the container meshing with the toothed wheel on the agitator, and a single bracket mounted at one end on the container wall and extending inwardly alongthe crank shaft and having a part extending downwardly from the crank shaft to provide bearing support for the upper end of the agitator. I

6. In a flour sifter comprising a container having one or more sieves mounted therein, and an agitator having parts sweeping the sieves and having the upper end equipped with a toothed wheel, a shaft for operating the agitator passing diametrically through the container for support in the opposite side walls thereof and having a hand crank at one end outside the container, and a toothed wheel inside the container meshing with the toothed wheel on the agitator, and a single bracket secured at one end to the container wall and extending inwardly along the crank shaft, the inner end having the crank shaft passing therethrough and providing a depending portion having the upper end of the agitator bearing therein for support and another portion bearing against one side of the toothed wheel on the crank shaft to maintain the same in proper intermeshing relation with the toothed wheel on the agitator.

ADAM esonwmnr. 

